US Airlines Sitting on $10 Billion Owed to Consumers for Canceled Flights, Lawmakers Say

Delta Air Lines passenger planes are seen parked due to flight reductions made to slow the spread of COVID-19, at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Ala., on March 25, 2020. Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters

U.S. airlines are estimated to be sitting on more than $10 billion in travel vouchers that should have been cash refunds from canceled flights, a group of senators released on Friday.

Many U.S. airlines are canceling between 60 percent and 80 percent of their flights, and under federal law passengers on those flights are entitled to full refunds, Senators Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren, and Richard Blumenthal said in a statement.